Better late than never: We asked 25 of the smartest people we know–game developers, critics, professors of theater and history, comedy writers, political journalists, podcasters–for their favorite video game of 2017, and got 20 answers.

Counting Chris and JJ, that’s 27 people and 20 video games (21 if you count an honorable mention).

Brett Douville, a former lead programmer at Bethesda Game Studios on games like “Skyrim” and “Fallout 4,” talks about why he sees himself in the kill animations for “Skyrim,” why he loves “Rez,” and what he’s doing for “Tacoma,” the next game from Fullbright.

Screenwriter and former political speechwriter Jon Lovett, who created the NBC sitcom “1600 Penn,” talks about whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama plays video games, why he loves “Portal” and “Portal 2,” and what HBO’s “Westworld” has to say about our interactive fantasies.

An interview with a British political journalist that isn’t about Brexit: Helen Lewis, the deputy editor of the New Statesman, talks about why “BioShock” is her favorite game, why she plays as Queen Elizabeth in “Civilization,” and what “Fallout 4” might tell us about the future of America.

Frank Lantz, the designer of “Drop7” and the director of the New York University department of game design, talks about why “Crackdown” is his favorite game, why video games are worth studying, and which games (“World of Warcraft”! “Galcon”! Poker!) he has spent the most time playing.